Tornado and Hail in New York, June 2, 2000

Emergency management reported numerous trees and wires down throughout the southern portion of Steuben county, especially in Hornell and Canisteo. Many trees and limbs caused significant damage to houses and other buildings when they fell. There was also some damage to lightly constructed out buildings in the area. 1.5 inch diameter hail was reported in Addison and 3/4 inch hail was reported in Gibson.

Emergency management reports trees and wires down throughout Oneida county. Storm spotters also reported 3/4 inch diameter hail 5 miles south of Camden. In New York Mills lightning struck a utility pole, causing a high voltage wire to fall to the ground. The wire then burned through the ground and ignited a gas main.

Emergency management reported trees down in Tyre.

A storm spotter reported trees and wires down with an estimated wind speed of 60 MPH in Auburn. Localized street flooding was reported along Cottage Street and North Street. Thunderstorm winds also knocked down trees in Owasco, Montezuma, and New Hope.

A storm spotter reported 1 inch diameter hail in southeast Elmira.

Emergency management reported trees down in Owasco.

Reports of trees down and 1 inch diameter hail were received from the media and trained spotters in Chittenango. Localized street flooding was also reported.

Local newspapers reported trees and wires down from thunderstorm winds in Oneida. Numerous wires down on Route 46 caused a portion of the road to be closed.

Storm spotters reported trees down and 1 inch diameter hail in Minoa. Thunderstorm winds also knocked over a tractor trailer.

Storm spotters reported trees down across Route 80 between Lincoln Street and Apulia Road in the town of Tully. A fully restored barn was also destroyed in the town of Otisco.

Fire and rescue personnel reported 1 inch diameter hail in Waverly. Also, thunderstorm winds knocked a tree onto a car on Route 407, slightly injuring the driver and trapping her in the vehicle for 30 minutes.

Storm spotters reported a tree down on a house on Fly Road. Thunderstorm winds also ripped a roof top air conditioning unit off of a factory in DeWitt. 1 inch diameter hail was reported in Mattydale. Wires down across the region left 6000 people in the Syracuse area without power. A lightning strike at a Wal-Mart shopping center on the east side of Syracuse caused damage to merchandise outside of the store.

Emergency management reported trees and wires down throughout Otsego county.

Law enforcement officers reported numerous trees and wires down throughout Schuyler county.

Emergcency management reported trees down in Sherburne.

Law enforcement officers reported large limbs and wires down in Dundee.

Emergecny management reported trees down in Smyrna.

Emergency management reported trees and wires down throughout Tompkins county. Thunderstorm winds were measured at 58 MPH at the Ithaca Tompkins Airport. 6400 people were left without power in the Ithaca area. Several roads were closed by downed trees and power lines in Trumansburg, Cayuga Heights, and Lansing. Vendor tents at a local festival were also blown down.

Emergency management reported trees and wires down throughout Cortland county, especially in Willet, Cortland, Cinncinatus, Truxton, Cuyler, and Marathon. The Marathon area appeared to be hardest hit.

Law enforcement officers reported trees and wires down throughout Broome county.

Law enforcement officers reported trees and wired down as well as damage to homes in Norwich. Numerous trees were also blown down in South New Berlin.

Emergency management reported trees down in Bloomville.

Law enforcement officers reported several trees down in Margaretville. 2 trees were also reported down just east of Delhi.

Law enforcement officers reported 4 people seriously injured when a tree was blown down onto a tent at Kittatinny Campgrounds in Barryville.

A National Weather Service Binghamton survey team studied wind damage in the Emerald Green community, approximately 10 miles southeast of Monticello, NY on Saturday June 3rd 2000. The conclusions were that the damage, which occurred around 630 pm June 2nd, was tornadic and rated as 0 on the Fujita scale (F-0). This rating estimates the wind speed between 40 and 72 mph.The survey began near Essex Street where damage appeared to be straight line, with several trees laying in the same direction. One tree fell through a parked car. Although the damage did not show a tornadic pattern, it was curious how isolated the damage was. Witnesses at the scene claimed there was a lull in the storm, then a sudden whistling and then the sound of a "freight train." One man claimed to see rapid rotation within the rain as the trees were lifted and pushed over. Further damage was witnessed a few tenths of a mile to the east on Scarborough Circle. Several trees were knocked down toward the east-southeast. One tree downed caused considerable damage to a porch/deck. Again the consensus was the wind was straight line, albeit curiously isolated.Minor damage also occurred along East Lake Shore Drive. Shingles were torn off one house and a few shallow rooted trees were toppled in convergent directions. A fence to a tennis court across the street was bent over. A witness from this scene claimed to have seen "a cloud touch down and begin to move across the lake", right in line with the main damage path.Further to the east-southeast, more damage was discovered. Four or five trees were twisted mid to low trunk and sheared off. The trunks were estimated at 8-10 inches. Witnesses in a nearby house claimed the storm seemed to have stopped, and then the rain and strong, damaging wind wrapped back in. Behind this damage to the west-northwest was an ascending field leading up to a ridge top. This area comprises an unfinished golf course. Further investigation led to far more tree and vegetative damage. It was noted along the hill that damage increased in coverage further up, lending credence to the theory of a funnel aloft with the ridge rising up to meet the rotation. Numerous large trees were uprooted and fell in convergent patterns, and there were also trees twisted and sheared off from their lower to middle trunks. At the top of the ridge, a home was discovered with 18 large diameter trees (8-10") uprooted, sheared off, or twisted along the mid-high trunks. Some of the uprooted trees appeared to be in a convergent pattern. A gentleman interviewed was not home at the time of the storm. A couple trees narrowly missed a direct hit on his home, but crushed a corner of the residence's back deck.Based upon the previously described eyewitness accounts, and the twisting / convergent damage pattern of many trees, the storm was determined to be a weak tornado. Track information from a global geo-positioning unit clearly exhibited a west-northwest to east-southeast oriented path of about 1 mile in length. The tornado was up to 200 yards wide near the ridge top with smaller damage swaths in downhill locations. The tornado was likely aloft for much of the storm, with ground interaction most numerous where the ridge rose up to meet it.